Support for Veterans in an NHS Library

In some NHS hospitals, there can be a tendency for the library to be thought of as mainly, or even only, for medics and students, but this is an outdated idea.

Libraries in the NHS are largely funded by our major stakeholder, NHS England (funds are allocated to hospitals and Trusts and then distributed). As part of our agreement, we have to support ALL student and staff groups. A huge part of my role is trying to get that message out there that we’re an organisational resource, not just a medical one. This obviously means we support all of our other clinical, managerial, and support staff, but it also means we welcome other groups who may need some extra support — including our veteran colleagues.

The North West of England, where I currently work, is an area where many residents have connections to the uniformed services or have served in them personally. Many of our full-time staff are also reservists in the army or navy, and many others have come to work in the NHS after careers in the armed forces.

It can be very difficult, when you’ve been inside a very structured organisation, to adapt to new ways of doing things after you leave — although the NHS also has clear structures and purpose.

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The Trust I work for is what’s known as a Veteran Aware employer. The logo that signifies that the hospital is Veteran Aware is easy to spot — you just need to look for the big purple tick, small crown, and the Veteran Aware wording. The Veteran Aware initiative is intended to make it easier for those who’ve served in the armed forces to get the healthcare treatment they need.

Back in July 2021, the Trust was awarded ‘Gold’ in the Ministry of Defence’s own Employer Recognition Scheme, and eighteen months later, a specific Armed Forces Pathway was introduced. The aim was to encourage those who’d served in the Armed Forces to apply for jobs with the hospitals.

In terms of what we can offer veterans in the library, we support them as we would any other member of staff but with a little more awareness of what they’ve been through. We have a small collection of books around mental health, for instance, recommended by NHS England and the Reading Agency, a UK organisation that works with public libraries, colleges, and prisons.

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Veterans, like other staff members, are also very welcome to make use of the quiet space, computers, and book stock, and we’re always happy to help them with practical support, like printing out what they might need and pointing them to our online journals and resources.

Some colleagues in other Trusts have gone one step further and added a small additional collection of books about the experiences of former members of the armed forces — and we’ll be looking at this, too.

The hospital Trust I now work for prides itself on being a ‘family’ — and that means everyone. And just in case we ever needed reminding of how important our veterans are to us, every time we’re in the main hospital entrance, there’s a specially designed banner.

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